Get Ready for Some Serrious DVC Competition

[Tigger031266]

This is an article from Motley Fool
So how many time shares will be next to Disney? Does this devalue our timeshares. I agrue our value is all about location. We don't even have a AK resort in our DW resorts.

Motley Fool
Disney Listens to the Land
Wednesday March 29, 9:10 am ET
By Rick Aristotle Munarriz

Is Disney (NYSE: DIS - News) the next real estate tycoon? The Orlando Sentinel is reporting that the family-entertainment giant has been selling off some of the land surrounding its Disney World complex in Florida in recent months. It sold off 53 acres just south of its Animal Kingdom theme park to a real estate developer set on building vacation homes and condos. It also sold a 47-acre tract just north of its flagship Magic Kingdom attraction to Centex Homes (NYSE: CTX - News).
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This doesn't mean Disney will be hocking Dumbo next. It's just the result of Disney realizing it really doesn't need 27,000 acres to complete its Florida resort. The fact that Disney wound up with more than 40 square miles of land, mostly on orange groves, was the handiwork of Walt Disney's vision in the 1960s. He quickly learned that Disneyland's biggest flaw in California was that the company didn't acquire enough land outside its original theme park. Competing hotels in park guests' sightlines were a distraction from Disney's themed efforts and an insult to its pocketbook that it couldn't play a bigger role in the area lodging industry that it created.

One may wonder why Disney just didn't develop the excess real estate itself. Disney is not hard up for money, and the Pixar (Nasdsaq: PIXR) acquisition will actually improve Disney's balance sheet, since it's an all-stock deal for a cash-rich animator.

Then again, Disney has been moving away from real estate. It has let real estate developers such as St. Joe (NYSE: JOE - News) take over the Celebration planned community that it built just south of Disney World.

Disney isn't the only amusement-park operator looking to cash in on unused turf. Six Flags (NYSE: PKS - News) is trying to unload some unnecessary parcels. One of the three recent additions to its board was Dwight Schar, chairman of real estate developer NVR (NYSE: NVR - News).

I will always argue that having more land is better than regretting a land sale when it comes time to expand. I think companies like Disney and Six Flags would be better off developing the adjacent real estate so they can profit from it as a landlord. However, with real estate prices so high, it's awfully tempting to cash in on soil that Walter Elias Disney bought for pennies on the dollar.

So, yes, I get it. But when Disney or Six Flags start complaining of unruly neighbors or those unruly neighbors start protesting ambitious expansion, they will have only themselves and their nearsighted specs to blame.

Pixar is a Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendation

 

[DisFlan]

I don't think this is "competition". Disney may eventually be sorry they sold the land, but I don't think it's putting DVC in any jeopardy.


DisFlan

 

[twister]

The attraction of dvc has been and always will be the parks. Wdw can deal with non disney resorts very easily. Simply open up the parks 2-3-4 hours earlier for people staying at disney owned resorts. This would bring any non disney time share to a halt.

 

[gppnj]

It's not like there aren't already a million timeshares in Orlando. I doubt very much this property sale could affect DVC in any way.

 

[DrTomorrow]

To the OP: do you have any idea how many hotel rooms, time-shares and vacation homes are already in the Greater Orlando area? A few more won't reduce the appeal of on-site accomodations, Disney transportation, EMH-AM & -PM, etc.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

I may be wrong, but I would imagine the land that was sold can not really be put to good use by Disney.
The Disney property is not a perfect rectangle, and it makes perfect sense to sell off some of the jagged corners that were really useless... If indeed that's what was sold.

Here is na good map of the property that shows the lack of property symmetry.
Give it a couple minutes to load-

http://www.rcid.org/PDF/political jurisdiction map.base05_11.pdf

 

[spiceycat]

if it is not on Disney property I am not interested....

since Disney is selling this - it won't be....

 

[sajetto]

I'm not worried about it in the slightest, but I think Disney may later regret selling the land

 

[gtrist4life]

From Bizjournals.com

St. Joe Co. CEO Peter Rummell has been named Free Enterpriser of the Year for 2006 by the Florida Council on Economic Education.
The award has been presented since 1982 and is given to the Floridian who "best exemplifies the free enterprise spirit, quality leadership, accomplishment and ethical lifetime performance in business and community dealings," according to FCEE.

Rummell has been the CEO of St. Joe (NYSE: JOE - News) since 1997 and has transformed the company from a slow-growth paper and railroad company into a residential land developer. St. Joe's earnings have increased 300 percent since 1997.

Before taking over at St. Joe, Rummell was president of Disney Development Co. and chairman of Walt Disney Imagineering.

Keeping the network going.....

Peace,
G4L

 

[RobDoc]

I may be wrong, but I would imagine the land that was sold can not really be put to good use by Disney.
The Disney property is not a perfect rectangle, and it makes perfect sense to sell off some of the jagged corners that were really useless... If indeed that's what was sold.

Here is na good map of the property that shows the lack of property symmetry.
Give it a couple minutes to load-

http://www.rcid.org/PDF/political jurisdiction map.base05_11.pdf

Great map, Maistre Gracey!

The parcel sold is the little rectangle in the platte marked 02 in the Osceola County area (in purple on the map) - directly south of AK. It is just off 192 and presently is home to some Disney merchandising buildings, AK audition studios and a Disney Family Center.

Sherberth Road is a great shortcut onto Disney property from that area of 192. There is already a Holiday Inn and large timeshare development (Silver Lake Resort) in that same area (other side of Sherberth) as well as some old motel-like buildings that are currently vacant and a good sized parcel of pasture. Other than the buildings presently used by Disney on that sold land, there is probably little use for guest recreational areas due to the road itself (2 lane). The Disney use of those buildings can easily be moved elsewhere especially if they got top dollar for that specific area of land. I suppose they could later regret it, but it would appear that there is minimal loss due to the nature of the actual location.

 

[byoung]

Maybe I will be buying a vacation Home soon?

 

[2goofee]

Great map, Maistre Gracey!

The parcel sold is the little rectangle in the platte marked 02 in the Osceola County area (in purple on the map) - directly south of AK. It is just off 192 and presently is home to some Disney merchandising buildings, AK audition studios and a Disney Family Center.

Sherberth Road is a great shortcut onto Disney property from that area of 192. There is already a Holiday Inn and large timeshare development (Silver Lake Resort) in that same area (other side of Sherberth) as well as some old motel-like buildings that are currently vacant and a good sized parcel of pasture. Other than the buildings presently used by Disney on that sold land, there is probably little use for guest recreational areas due to the road itself (2 lane). The Disney use of those buildings can easily be moved elsewhere especially if they got top dollar for that specific area of land. I suppose they could later regret it, but it would appear that there is minimal loss due to the nature of the actual location.

Are you sure that any buildings were sold? It would make sense to sell what you call "pasture" between the Family Care Center and the Maingate Complex, but why sell those buildings and the audition building and the AK costuming building?

 

[emma'smom]

Doesn't really matter...whatever they build still won't be part of the "World"...thus will always be just a little bit less magical IMO.

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

If a big enough building is built there I could see Disney regretting the sale. Sherbeth Road...also known as Entry Point Blvd on the other side of 192 is my favorite way of going to pick up groceries. That aside its a pretty useless tract of land. Hopefullly the buyer also owns the vacant motel.

 

[utahkennedys]

When my boss bought his non-DVC timeshare at Silver Lake the big deal was that it was "the closest" since I guess it's near AK. However, look at what has happened to the value of those...not the DVC type of property from what I understand, regardless of how "close" it is.

 

[tigger795]

I am sure that this will not have much affect on the World or DVC values but on the other hand, one of the things that has always amazed me about WDW is the sheer imenseness of the land they had at their dosposal. Losing any of that kinda makes me a little sad. I just hope that this isn't the start of a trend.

 

[NJOYURLIFE]

I am sure that this will not have much affect on the World or DVC values but on the other hand, one of the things that has always amazed me about WDW is the sheer imenseness of the land they had at their dosposal. Losing any of that kinda makes me a little sad. I just hope that this isn't the start of a trend.

I couldn't agree more.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

one of the things that has always amazed me about WDW is the sheer imenseness of the land they had at their dosposal. Losing any of that kinda makes me a little sad. I just hope that this isn't the start of a trend.

I also agree, but I'm not concerned in this case. It's not the first time Disney has sold some "odd protrusions" of land, and they say it will not be the last.
Now, if they started giving up the "good land", I would be concerned.

There is a master plan for property development.
Somewhere, someplace, there is a model of what the property will look like in 50 years. Of course that's only a plan, and plans can change.

I have read that Disney has not only sold parcels in the past, but also have purchased tid bits of land to fill in some gaps.

MG